I
saw him several times fill the empty bag of a little fellow who had lost
his all, and who found a generous friend in Ben. But though he was very
kind to the little ones, and liberal too in his way, nothing roused him
to a regular raging passion quicker than meanness or cheating. Now
little Sam Markham, who first bought me from old Spattleberry, was the
meanest little sneak that ever lived, and did not care what he did, so
long as he was not found out. Ben had an instinctive dislike of him, and
never played with him, so that there was a sort of unspoken feud between
them. Mean little Sam feared Ben's blunt, straightforward ways; and Ben
had a sort of big contempt for Sam's trickfulness and shifty ways, and
so they gave each other usually, what Ben would have called, a "wide
berth."

"But one day, Ben happened to perch himself on a very high bough of the
old elm tree that stood in a corner of the playground; for he was always
given to climbing, and that he knew from long experience was a secure
nook to rest in away from intrusion. Many a summer holiday did he spend
studying Robinson Crusoe, or Peter Simple, or something of that sort.
But on this day he happened to have got "Snarley-yow," which some chum
had lent him, and he was deaf and blind to almost everything. But a loud
squabble under the tree at last aroused him a little, and 'It's not
fair, Sam; I know you're cheating,' reached his ears; and shaking
himself like a waking dog, he peered down through the leaves and
branches to see what was the matter. There stood Sam, his eyes
twinkling, and his mouth grinning from ear to ear, as he pocketed a lot
of marbles, confiscated from "blundering Bill," as William Smith was
politely christened by the boys. Now Bill was a good deal younger than
that little sharper, Sam, and a novice to boot in the game, and so was
not near a match for him. Ben's honest blood boiled, and he only waited
a few minutes just to witness some most gross cheating, and to see poor
Bill turn away with his empty bag, when he slid down the old tree trunk
like a thunderbolt, coming down upon sly Sam, and sending all his
ill-gotten gains spinning to every corner of the playground. Sam had the
soundest thrashing he had ever experienced, and was mulcted besides of
all the marbles he had robbed Bill of; and though Ben was scarcely his
equal in size, and a year younger, he was far too formidable and
uncompromising an antagonist for Sam to contend openly with.